USS Essex Log Book 50

Finding Aid

Adams class ship USS Essex (IX-10) was designed and constructed by premier North American shipwright Donald McKay. Her keel was laid down in 1874 and she was launched in 1876. She was a three-decked wooden screw steamer sloop-of-war with auxiliary sail (bark-rigged). She was 185 feet long, 35 feet in the beam, had a 14.25-foot draft, and was 1,375 tons. When commissioned, she carried six big guns, all muzzle loaders: one XI-inch and four IX-inch Dahlgren Naval Artillery guns, and one 60-pound Parrott Rifle The ship’s armory carried dozens of small arms including rifles, pistols, revolvers, and cutlasses. Further, she carried a six auxiliary boats including a launch, two cutters, a whale boat, one gig, and a dinghy. The combinations of guns and watercraft carried on board USS Essex could change from log book to log book. She served with the US Navy in active duty and as a training ship with the Ohio Naval Militia, the Illinois Naval Militia, and the Minnesota Naval Militia. She was intentionally burned on Minnesota Point in Lake Superior at Duluth in 1931. Her Minnesota Archaeological Site Number is 21-SL-1030 and she is a National Register of Historic Places Property.

Maritime Heritage Minnesota digitized the 62 known USS Essex log books held at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis in 2010. The log books consist of the daily activities on board the Essex as recorded by deck officers on duty. Those deck notes were then transcribed to be the official log of the Essex that were sent to the Navy Department in Washington, DC, where they were bound into their current book form. At the beginning of most log books, there are: a title page, two list of officers pages, a crew complement page (listing the crew by rank and job), an armaments page (list of the different large guns, boats, and small arms), and two pages of compass observations. Not all log books contain these pages and some include additional information, including a plan and section of the Essex in Log Books 8 and 9 and four pages of directions on how to fill out log pages in Log Book 21. Sometimes two transcribed versions of log pages were sent to the Navy Department and duplicate books were produced. However, sometimes the duplicate books were not bound with exactly the same pages, so some books overlap each other in date. Also, some log book pages have writing too close to its spine edge and after binding, some words and numbers were ‘lost’ in the spine if the binding remained tight over the decades. Further, it must be kept in mind that the names of ships, both American and foreign, as well as geographical locations usually expressed in different languages will have variations in spelling. With this in mind, the deck officers of the Essex, when writing the log pages, may misunderstand what the actual name of a ship or geographical marker actually is and their handwriting may present challenges or be nearly illegible. The editing of this log book and the creation of the finding aid was made possible by a generous donation from MHM friend and supporter Dr. Natalie Rosen.

Log Book 50 of the USS Essex: November 21, 1902-July 18, 1903

The National Archives houses USS Essex Log Book 50. Throughout Log Book 50, comments were made on:

• sail adjustments with sail type and action specified
• banking of boiler fires in order to put the ship on stand-by for immediate use
• coupling and uncoupling the propellor when the ship was shifting from steam to sail and vice-versa
• when under steam the different watches record the average steam boiler pressure and engine revolutions; sometimes specific boiler are mentioned by their letter designation
• lowering of smokestack and proceeded under sail and vice-versa when the Essex was underway
• when anchored nearly every watch described the state of the anchor cables: crossed (‘cross in hawse, stbd chain on top’ or ‘Elbow in hawse’) and often will mention ‘clearing the hawse’ (the crossed anchor cables were uncrossed)
• casting deep sea lead for soundings
• swinging the ship to test for compass deviation
• patent log readings
• water distillation using the ship’s boilers to produce freshwater and refilling the freshwater tanks
• coaling of the ship
• discharging ashes onto a lighter
• weather recording: temperature, wind speed and direction, barometer readings, state of the sea
• recording the ship’s behavior (heavy rolling or pitching)
• testing flood cocks in magazine and gun rooms
• testing of all electrical apparatus
• crew conducting ship maintenance: engine maintenance/repair, boiler maintenance/repair, coal bunker maintenance/repair, general ship cleaning, bilge cleaning and checking pumps, scraping and painting - and sometimes tarring and caulking - the ship’s hull and infrastructure, caulking the decks, iron work maintenance/repair, rigging repair/replacement, tarring down rigging, airing of rigging, repairing stays, repairing yards and booms, loosed sails to dry, repairing sails, replacing sails, scraping and slushing spars, scrubbing masts and yards, repairing masts, hawser (mooring lines) maintenance/repair/replacement, condenser bed timber repair/replacement, engine bed timber repair/replacement, steam cutter maintenance/repair, steam/sail launch maintenance/repair, gig maintenance/repair, dinghy maintenance/repair, whale boat maintenance/repair, turned and cleaned hammocks and bedding, painting hammock netting panels, scraping and blacking boat davits, repaired ground tackle, repaired sounding apparatus, scraping out smokepipe, inspected cotton primers, repairing binnacles, repairing waste pipes of magazine and shell room, repairing rail, repaired skylights, repaired awning stanchions, awning repair/replacement, repairing air ports, repairing gun ports, repairing water closets, gun carriage/battery maintenance/repair
• crew conducting drills: furling and unfurling sails, target practice with the main battery (great guns), target practice with the air gun, floating target practice, boat drills - all hands called to arms and away all boats for naval tactics under sail and oars, on shore target practice, general quarters drills, small arms drills, fire drills, single stick drills, revolver drills, torpedo drills, passing powder drills, fuze drills, abandon ship drills, man overboard drills, Gatling gun drills, howitzer drills, skirmishing, battalion drills, machine gun drills, pistol drills, rifle drills, bayonet drills, target practice with targeting hanging from a yardarm, Morse signal drills, landing party drills, navigation drills, man overboard drills, signaling with the flagship, Army and Navy signaling drills, watch signal drills, international signal drills, basic medical training (tourniquets, resuscitation), Marine Guard drill
• Marine Guard drills in the cutter
• cadet/apprentice drills: signaling drills, wig-wag signaling drills
• receiving fresh water from shore through pumps or lighter
• receiving provisions and stores: food, medical supplies, clothing, engineering gear, construction
• Quarterly Board of Survey’s findings of condemned articles on board (food, equipment) and their fate (food was usually tossed overboard) from the inventories of the different ship’s departments (Ordnance, Engineering, Navigation, Equipment, Medical, Pay)
• crew promotions
• crew quarters inspection
• liberty parties sent ashore
• crew members are discharged at their own request (DOR)
• lists of new crew members - recruits or transfers from other ships- taken on board during a cruise
• crew transfers to other ships
• crew reporting the expiration of their contracted naval service
• crew members in solitary confinement or other punishments for various infractions, AWOL crew, general and summary court martial proceedings, AWOL crew put in irons
• rewards offered for the return of AWOL crewmen
• weekly Sunday services; after the services, once a month, the Articles for Better Government of the Navy were read to the crew

NOTE: The Essex deck officers who recorded the daily happenings on the ship often translated the names of non-American ships incorrectly. MHM determined the correct spellings of the ships and those corrections are reflected in the Finding Aid, not the poorly transliterated ship names.

At the beginning of Log Book 50, on November 21, 1902, the USS Essex was undergoing maintenance and repairs at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, New Hampshire, under the command of Commander L.C. Heilner. For the remainder of the month, the ship continued to be repaired and maintained by Yard workmen, including cleaning of the bilges. The small boats were sent ashore for repairs.

USS Essex remained in the Portsmouth Navy Yard for all of December, hosting Yard work crews conducting repairs and maintenance, and took on new apprentices. Equipment, supplies, and provisions were also taken on board. On December 5, a gasket on one of the manhole plates of boiler 'C' blew out; the fires were hauled and repairs conducted. The boiler was then started up to supply heat to the ship. Six days later, 2 officers and a detail of body bearers left Essex to attend the funeral of Midshipman Carpenter; he was not part of the ship's complement. On December 17, a $10 award was offered to police authorities of New York City and Portsmouth for the arrest and delivery of an AWOL sailor. Crewmen were transferred from USRS Columbia and an Essex officer was sent for temporary duty on the Navy Tug USS Nezinscot; their job was to search for a derelict. On December 21, another $20 was offered for the return of 2 AWOL crewmen, and on December 23-24, the ship took on coal. A list of items received on board included flags, pennants, and sounding equipment and on December 29, Essex took on more coal. On December 31, the ship sent a work party to clean USS Raleigh's spar deck before she was re-commissioned, and Essex received ammunition on board.

For the first 4 days of January, 1903, crewmen and apprentices underwent final assignments and on January 5, USS Essex moved out of her berth with the aid of a Yard tug and steamed downriver. For the next 20 days, the ship headed southward, often in heavy rolling seas that caused the poop deck chests to break loose, one with alcohol was smashed, the forward davit of the whaleboat unhooked, the cutter davits were damaged, and the cover of a 6 pounder gun was lost overboard. After clearing the rough seas, the rudder of the whaleboat was discovered to be missing on January 13, due to aforementioned bad weather. On January 20, a spar was sighted floating in the water; it was painted black and projected 5 feet above the water. Three days later, during a test, the aft 4-inch magazine drain valve stem was found to be unscrewed and could not be replaced while at sea. On January 24, a two-masted single funnel steamer - that was on a converging course - hoisted German colors. The next day, Essex entered Charlotte Amelia Harbor on St. Thomas in the Danish Virgin Islands. On January 26, Essex fired a 21-gun salute in honor of the Danish National Holiday. The next day, German corvette SMS Stosch honored the German Consul with a 7-gun salute, Essex was dressed, flew the German Ensign at her main, and shot a 21-gun salute in honor of the German Emperor's birthday; SMS Stosch and the shore battery answered with the same. The log also detailed the activities of the German merchant training ship Grossherzogin Elisabeth, American yacht Sea Fox, and a Norwegian barkentine. Essex left the harbor on January 30 and the next day she anchored in Frederiksted Harbor on St. Croix; salutes were fired and the English steamer Fontabella went to sea.

USS Essex spent the first 5 days of February at Frederiksted, conducting boat drills. The log mentioned the steamer Noroma and USS Olympia, and an auxiliary cruiser. On February 5, left the harbor; an apprentice jumped overboard and the Bosun's Mate jumped into the water and rescued him. Essex stopped and picked them out of the water with a ship's boat. The ship anchored in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, and found an abundance of ships in the harbor: gunboat USS Isla de Luzon, USS Bancroft, USS Vixen, USS Alexander Hamilton, collier USS Ajax, USS Potomac, and American yacht Sultana. On February 7, the overboard apprentice was sent to the Naval Hospital and 2 days later, HMS Blake hoisted the quarantine flag. For the next 2 weeks, the ship held small boat drills, battalion drills with full equipment, sent and received parts to the shore for repair, and the CO of the Military Forces of Puerto Rico visited Essex. On February 16 and 18, the log book mentions the US steam yacht 'Guinolda'; however, this vessel is the New York steam yacht Gunilda (the New York steam yacht Gunilda is a well-known wreck in Lake Superior; she sank in August 1911, having hit McGarvey Shoal in Ontario. Gunilda was constructed in Scotland in 1897 and was the Flagship of the New York Yacht Club. She was owned by William Lamon Harkness, a millionaire stock holder in Standard Oil. MHM has confirmed that Gunilda was around the southeastern United States in 1903; she was mentioned in the shipping news of the Savannah Morning News on February 10, 1903). The majority of log entries chronicled ships in port from many nations: Station Tug USS Uncas, Revenue Cutter Algonquin, Station Tug USS Potomac, SS Philadelphia, German ship SS Sardinia, US yacht Isis, American schooner yacht Coronet, Puerto Rican Steamship Company steamer Ponce, USS Panther, French Mail Steamer Ferdinand de Lessepo, Cuban steamer Julia, American Mail Steamer Cosmo, and USS Hartford. On February 20, Essex received a visit from the CO of Hartford and exchanged wig-wag signals with Bancroft; she asked Essex what time she would sail. Also, Panther wig-wagged 'thanks' to Essex for the use of her steam launch the previous day. She then left the harbor and remained at sea for the remainder of February.

On March 1, USS Essex anchored off Port Royal, Jamaica, and anchored in Kingston Harbor the following day; salutes were fired and returned by the Naval Station and HMS Urgent. Visits were exchanged with the Commandant's Chief of Staff and the US Consul. For the first 12 days of March, the crew and apprentices conducted sail, boat, and other routines while in the harbor. The log detailed the activities of a number of ships in Kingston: French Cruiser Toge flying a rear admiral's flag, Hamburg-American steamer Teutonia, HMS Ariadne, US yacht Sultana (Sultana grounded in front of Fort Augusta upon leaving harbor), HMS Alert, Royal Mail Steamer Tagus, HMS Columbia, HMS Retribution, and the German steamer Erica. Essex left Kingston on March 12 and after 10 days, she moored to a buoy in Havanna Harbor. The ship remained at Havanna for the remainder of the month, coaling on March 31; the log chronicled the activities of ships Morro Castle, the Yacht Merial, Spanish mail steamer Leon XIII, and Ward Line steamer Havanna.

On April 1, 1903, before leaving the harbor, USS Essex transferred an apprentice to the shore hospital with his papers and hammock; he was expected to be in there for an extended period. Steamer Lowther Castle of Liverpool passed the ship on April 2, and for the next week, the ship rolled deeply at times and the apprentices conducted Man Overboard drills using a life buoy and other routine drills. On April 9, the log noted the results of an examination of the engine after a mishap; the prop was uncoupled and the ship proceeded on sails and the battery was overhauled. Boston Deep Sea Fishing & Ice Co Ltd. steamer Grecian (Grecian was lost in December 1903) was sighted and Essex dropped anchor in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island; she made a General call by Very code but was not answered. For the next 2 weeks, Essex remained at Newport, exchanging visits with the Naval Training Station and taking on board a civilian for an estimation of repairs to the engine. On April 11, an attempt to shift the ship's anchorage aided by her steam launch and the Station's small torpedo boat was unsuccessful. After a turn of the tide, the anchorage shift was successful, aided by the torpedo boat Winslow. Three days later, Essex half-masted her flag in honor of the death of Rear Admiral Belknap; she also received a wig-wag message from USRS Constellation "Captain Chadwick was the CO at the War College (signed) Chadwick". On April 15, heavy squalls caused Essex's anchor to drag; additional cable was paid out and the starboard anchor was dropped; it was raised once the winds had died, although the procedure was repeated a couple of times over the next few days. On April 20, both anchors were hoisted and the port anchor was foul; it was cleared and re-dropped 300 yards from the ship's earlier anchorage. For the next 2 days, routine drills were conducted, the crew tarred down the rigging, and a crewman transferred from USRS Columbia. Ships mentioned in the log include Monitor USS Amphitrite, converted yacht USS Hist, USRS Constellation, and yacht Constitution. Essex raised anchor, exchanged signals with USRS Constellation, and stood into Gardiner's Bay, Long Island. While setting up a floating target in the ship's punt in tow of the steam launch with 3 men on board, the punt capsized and went out to sea; target practice commenced after Essex re-anchored further from the target. On April 24, the ship got underway to Greenport Harbor where she ran aground. The kedge anchor was dropped and 2 boilers were pumped out to lighten the ship; Essex was hauled clear, a port anchor was dropped and then raised, and the ship re-anchored in the harbor. Until the end of April, the ship steamed up the Thames River off the New London Naval Station and coaled, her spanker gaff was repaired, the crew painted the ship, and the ships of the North Atlantic Squadron were sighted on the southern drill ground. Essex anchored in Lynnhaven Bay and then steamed towards Hampton Roads on April 30. On that day, the crew blackened the ship's side and painted the interior; the log book also described the activities and movements of converted yacht USS Scorpion, USS Prairie, USS Peoria, USS Monongahela, USS Bainbridge, USS Mayflower (flying the flag of the Admiral of the Navy), USS Olympia (flying a Rear Admiral's flag), refrigerator ship USS Culgoa, and pre-dreadnoughts USS Illinois and USS Texas. 

During the first half of May 1903, Essex remained at Hampton Roads, with the CO conducting visits around the Yard to various ships. The crew painted the ship's boats, liberty was taken, transfers of crew and apprentices took place, and Essex was coaled. The majority of the log during this time was dedicated to the actions and activities of the ships around Essex: USS Peoria, USS Texas, Monitor USS Nevada fired a salute to Admiral Dewey and Rear Admiral Coghlan that was answered by USS Mayflower, USS Olympia, Tug USS Hercules, USS Culgoa, USS Illinois, USS Monongahela, USRS Franklin, USS Columbia, USS Minneapolis, USS Alliance, and USS Truxtun. On May 14, Essex got underway and left Chesapeake Bay the next day. On May 16, the engines were slowed and stopped in the evening due so some nuts that had worked loose; they were tightened and Essex continued on. The next day, the ship steamed into Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, and secured to a buoy at the Naval Station; she exchanged signals with USRS Constellation and USS Amphitrite. From Amphitrite "our steam launch is at your disposal until 7 am tomorrow morning", answered by Essex "Very much obliged, will probably use for one trip". Through the rest of May, Essex remained at Newport; a variety of chores were performed on boat including cleaning the copper and the boats and the receipt of stores from the Training Station. Apprentices were transferred from USRS Columbia and USRS Wabash, and wig-wag messages were exchanged with USS Monongahela regarding the use of an ash lighter and the reception of an official message. On May 30, Constellation wig-wagged to Essex that the "ships will be dressed instead of full dressed. Signed Chadwick". An apprentice smashed his finger while handling stores, and a national salute was fired at noon. The empty cartridges showed that only 20 guns had been fired. Constellation then signaled to "please send boats for officers".

For most of June, USS Essex remained at Newport, with the apprentices instructed on bends, hitches, knots, small boat drills, General Quarters and fire drills, laying aloft and lead casting, signals, and exercises at the battery. The crew dried out boat sail, scrubbed down clothes and bags, emptied boilers, pumped out bilges, and overhauled the battery. Apprentices were transferred from the Newport Training Station, USRS Franklin, and USRS Columbia, while a crewman was discharged due to a physical disability and an apprentice received a bad conduct discharge. On June 10, Constellation sent a message to Essex: "Please send boat, signed Captain Chadwick" and various departments received supplies. On June 21, USS Dolphin entered Newport flying the flag of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Essex's CO visited the ship and wig-wagged to the Training Station asking permission to fire a salute the following day. Permission was denied since Constellation was going to fire the salute. Other communications took place between Essex, Constellation, and Dolphin, the last one on June 25 requesting permission to get underway from Essex to Constellation. Two days later, after proceeding at full speed in foggy conditions, the ship anchored in Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts, and remained there for the remainder of the month.

In early July, USS Essex remained in Gloucester and the apprentices conducted routine exercises and an Abandon Ship drill. On the 4th of July, the ship fired a national salute and a large shore party went to "see the sports"; there was also a cutter race under oars. On July 7, Essex got underway and anchored in Boston Harbor near the mouth of the Charles River; she fired a salute that was answered by the shore battery. The next day, Essex shifted her berth and then shifted again at the demand of the Harbor Police; however, her engines "refused duty" and the crew had to drop anchor quickly. Her second attempt to shift her berth was successful. On July 10, Navy Water Barge #2 went alongside Essex and delivered 11,500 gallons of water, while the battalion formed and was inspected. Over the next 8 days, routine drills were conducted, stores inventory was taken, USRS Wabash signaled to send a boat for the Commandant signed by Admiral Johnson, and destroyer USS Dale arrived at the Navy Yard and left the same day. On the last day of the log, July 18, Essex received a wig-way signal from Wabash "Forward Paymaster inventory immediately to the Commandant, signed Commandant". USS Dolphin entered the harbor and exchanged salutes with the shore battery, destroyer USS Macdonough exited drydock, and 2 crewmen were transferred to Essex from Wabash.

Tags:

sloop-of-war USS Essex, USRS Columbia, Navy Tug USS Nezinscot, Portsmouth Navy Yard, New Hampshire, USS Raleigh, Danish Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, Charlotte Amelia, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Navy Yard, German merchant training ship Grossherzogin Elisabeth, American yacht Sea Fox, Norwegian barkentine, German corvette SMS Stosch, Frederiksted Harbor, St. Croix, English steamer Fontabella,  steamer Noroma, USS Olympia, San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, gunboat USS Isla de Luzon, USS Bancroft, USS Vixen, USS Alexander Hamilton, collier USS Ajax, USS Potomac, American yacht Sultana, HMS Blake, New York steam yacht Gunilda, Station Tug USS Uncas, Revenue Cutter Algonquin, Station Tug USS Potomac, SS Philadelphia, German ship SS Sardinia, US yacht Isis, American schooner yacht Coronet, Puerto Rican Steamship Company steamer Ponce, USS Panther, French Mail Steamer Ferdinand de Lessepo, Cuban steamer Julia, American Mail Steamer Cosmo, USS Hartford, HMS Urgent, French Cruiser Toge, Hamburg-American steamer Teutonia, HMS Ariadne, US yacht Sultana, HMS Alert, Royal Mail Steamer Tagus, HMS Columbia, HMS Retribution, German steamer Erica, Havanna Harbor, Cuba, Morro Castle, the Yacht Merial, Spanish mail steamer Leon XIII, Ward Line steamer Havanna, steamer Lowther Castle of Liverpool, Boston Deep Sea Fishing & Ice Co Ltd. steamer Grecian, Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, Newport Navy Yard, Greenport Harbor, Gardiner's Bay, Long Island, Thames River, New London Naval Station, Monitor USS Amphitrite, converted yacht USS Hist, USRS Constellation, Rear Admiral Belknap, yacht Constitution, USS Scorpion, USS Prairie, USS Peoria, USS Monongahela, USS Bainbridge, USS Mayflower (flying the flag of the Admiral of the Navy), USS Olympia (flying a Rear Admiral's flag), refrigerator ship USS Culgoa, pre-dreadnought USS Illinois, pre-dreadnought USS Texas, North Atlantic Squadron, USS Peoria, Monitor USS Nevada, Admiral Dewey, Rear Admiral Coughlan, USS Olympia, Tug USS Hercules, USS Illinois, USS Monongahela, USRS Franklin, USS Minneapolis, USS Alliance, and USS Truxtun, USRS Wabash, USS Dolphin, Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts, Boston Harbor, Charles River, Navy Water Barge #2, destroyer USS Macdonough, apprentice training, ship drills, ship maintenance, steam, sail, Donald McKay

In Copyright. This work is copyrighted to Ann Merriman, Christopher Olson, and Maritime Heritage Minnesota. It cannot be duplicated, altered, or hosted online by an unauthorized third party. It cannot be sold for a profit or used to make a profit by any unauthorized third party and no commercial use is allowed. It can be used as a scholarly resource with proper citation to Ann Merriman, Christopher Olson, and Maritime Heritage Minnesota.

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